Andrew Flintoff appointed England Lions head coach

After ending his acting career, Flintoff turned to television presenting and was the presenter of Top Gear from 2019 until his life-changing accident in 2022.

In the second series of his documentary Field Of Dreams, which concluded last week on BBC One, Flintoff said the accident left him struggling with anxiety, nightmares and flashbacks.

“I don’t know what’s completely better,” he said in scenes he filmed earlier this year.

“I am who I am now. I am different than I was. It is something I will have to deal with for the rest of my life. Better? No, different.”

Flintoff, who is a close friend of England chief executive Rob Key, returned to public life late last summer by working with the white-ball team.

He has remained a regular in the limited-overs set-up, including at the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the US in June. Flintoff joined the Test squad at The Oval this week and gave an emotional cap presentation to debutant Josh Hull on Friday.

On the same day, Key told Test Match Special: “Freddie loves coaching. Sometimes it’s a quality that doesn’t get talked about enough – he’s a nice guy. Everything Fred can be: funny, outgoing. He’s nice. It’s an underrated quality.”

Flintoff’s return to the sport coincided with the rapid rise of his son Rocky at Lancashire.

The 16-year-old only made his debut for the second team in April and has since signed a professional contract with the club. He has made debuts in First Division and List A cricket and has also played for England Under-19s.

Corey Flintoff, 18, also played for Lancashire’s second team.